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Infectious Diseases

Research has proven that vaccines are extremely safe and effective. The public health implications of questioning this are serious. America should take every opportunity to protect kids by vaccinating them against every vaccine-preventable disease.

PrEP is an HIV-prevention strategy that provides people at risk of HIV with oral antiretroviral drugs that are taken prior to potential exposure. It could be a game changer, but issues associated with its implementation, costs, and access need to be addressed.

The EC's AMR Action Plan included measures to ensure antimicrobials are used more appropriately in both humans and animals and measures to stimulate R&D of new antibiotics. One area that was not sufficiently covered was the environment.

When Hurricane Matthew swept across Haiti, it left a resurgence of cholera in its wake. Tackling cholera head-on should be on the short list of health priorities for disaster relief in the island nation.

Many common infections are becoming resistant to the antimicrobial medicines used to treat them, resulting in longer illnesses and more deaths. The fact that world leaders are using the UN as a forum for discussions about AMR is a promising move toward developing a coordinated global plan.

Brazilian scientists detected drug-resistant bacteria growing off some of Rio de Janeiro's beaches, close to where it will host sailing and wind-surfing events, and in the lagoon where the rowing and canoeing events will take place.

The FDA does not accept blood from male donors who have had sex with a man in the last 12 months. Is this restriction supported by scientific evidence? Or, is it related to lingering stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS?

The reactive approach to emerging infectious disease should be augmented with an anticipatory model that accounts for the dramatic changes occurring through globalization, greater interactions between human and zoonotic populations, and changes to the environment and climate patterns.

The O'Neill Review aims to increase global knowledge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and generate international consensus about the nature of the problem and the necessary steps to tackle it. A RAND Europe analysis of the potential economic costs of AMR contributed to the Review.

Electronic health records in U.S. hospitals are not yet prompting for screening questions related to Zika virus. Why? The existing system is too slow to respond and when it does, it finds itself chasing the past.

Scientists across universities, governments, and industry are doubling down to gain a better understanding of the Zika virus and develop the diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic tools needed to combat it. In the meantime, the public must be actively engaged.

For now, public health officials and their partners must do all they can to control Zika virus, using the tools at hand. That may include instituting a public health campaign to reduce mosquito-breeding sites and promoting prudent protection against mosquito bites.

HIV-related stigma and discrimination remains pervasive despite strides that have been made in fighting the disease. Charlie Sheen reported paying more than $10 million in bribes to keep his HIV status secret before going public recently to put an end to the extortion.

Most Shared

Quoted

Personalized learning holds promise as an innovation that can lead to improved educational outcomes for students. But implementers should have modest expectations for the magnitude of the benefits, and patience for the full benefits to emerge.

Distinguished Chair in Education Innovation

Predictions about whether al Qaeda will resurge or further decline are presumptuous because they fail to identify the most important factors that could impact its trajectory. Al Qaeda's past strength has never been linear, but has waxed and waned...

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